Loved ones think you are busy ironing, cleaning the toilet, scrubbing floors or tidying the house. Half an ago, you crept off into the garden for a sneaky writing session. Gasp!

There is something magical about disappearing for a bit (undefined time period – to a writer this can mean a good half hour, an hour or even a couple of hours) to write.

It can feel so naughty and mischievous. I guarantee that whatever you manage to frantically scribble in secret will be amazing!

There are several stages:

Cinderella Stage. You are busy doing household chores and seriously considering renaming yourself Cinderella! In view of the jobs that you have to do around the house there is zero chance of you getting to write today. It pains you to think that you won’t get to release some of your creative frustration or spend some quality time with those fictional people in your head. Cue the miserable facial expression and loud exhales.

Desperation Stage. You have been ironing for just ten minutes and you start to get those powerful feelings of creative desperation. If only you could find a way of getting to write. Life would feel a lot better as you would be much nicer to your loved ones and post writing you would be in the mood for a spot of cleaning (I love the lies we tell ourselves!). You give the ironing pile a filthy look and mutter some abuse at the unmade beds.

Hope Stage. There is a glimmer of hope as a little idea starts to grow in your mind. A naughty writer look spreads across your face. You could just sneak away, whilst certain loved ones are busy watching sport on TV or polishing their beloved car. Your creative mind leaps into action. The thought of being able to dive into fantasy land and escape the monotony of cleaning the house makes your heart beat faster.

The Sneaky Writing Session. You keep that naughty look on your face and without making a sound creep downstairs. No one notices you slip outside into the garden. As you charge up the garden, with a crazed look on your face, similar to an escaped convict, you feel liberated and alive again. Oh my goodness it feels so good to be a free writer! You stop yourself from doing some star jumps and shrieking with joy! Sadly you must stay under the ‘family radar.’ Once behind the shed you whip out your notebook, or if you are really crafty your laptop. If you are outside during a ‘sneaky writing session’ the sun will always come out, no matter what season it is. As you scribble or tap away the world feels a brighter place. Birds break into song as you become engrossed in your story and grey clouds scurry away as you look up and smile. The sneaky writing session is one of the most pleasurable experiences this writing life has to offer us. Forget the thrill that can be had from the eighth round of editing, getting your first rejection letter and replying in person to an angry reader who is unhappy with your ending! The sneaky writing session tops all of these in terms of creative highs! I think it’s the sense of creative rebellion and freedom that it gives a writer that makes it so damn pleasurable!

The Misery Stage. You didn’t want to stop writing but your loved ones started complaining about not having anything to eat or no clean clothes. They hunted you down and found you hiding behind the shed – mid plot twist. You trudge back to the house with a miserable expression on your face, perhaps muttering something like “if I was a famous author you wouldn’t make me clean the house!” At this point your loved one will inform you that you are not a famous author and this will sting a bit as in your head you are a draft away from being like J.K Rowling. Why do good things in Writing Land have to come to an end? You go back to thinking about renaming yourself Cinderella and rolling your eyes at the ironing pile.

If you get the chance to have a sneaky writing session today – go for it my friend!

Live the dream!

Have a fabulous day!

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Lucy Mitchell lives in South Wales with her husband, her two teenage daughters, a giant labrador and a gang of unruly cats.
Lucy is the author of the award winning blog, BlondeWriteMore and was a Featured Romance Author on Wattpad.
When she’s not working or writing, Lucy can be found listening to audiobooks in a muddy field with her dog or sat outside her local pub in the sunshine enjoying a glass of wine.
Her debut novel Instructions Falling In Love Again is OUT now and already pulling in some fabulous reviews ❤️

Great, Lucy. This is happening to me right now! I had an idea for a short story and resisted writing it down until I had done ten minutes gardening and checked my emails and this blog. Now I feel free to start writing! I could surf for a bit, but it is pulling meeeee……

Oh dear you’ve got them trained all wrong. If they want food and they are hungry enough they’ll discover there are things called a fridge and an oven, even a microwave in the kitchen and in desperation they will use them: their room? they clean it: their washing? they wash it: their ironing? they do it: if the kids are too young to manage any of this then it’s down to your other half – they are half his (or hers) afterall.

ahahha I loved this. Your writing is so humorous and engaging. Exactly what makes people keep to on reading, All the best wishes to you so that you find your “sneaky writing session” sooner rather than later. 😉

My sneaky sessions have to be in my subterranean (i.e. basement) writing room. If I go out to the garden, I inevitably see gardening that simply must be done. As for ironing, it is to be avoided at all costs. 🙂